Millington is Lecturer in Latin American Studies at the University of Nottingham, England. In the following excerpt, he provides an overview of the symmetrical structure of the stories in The Incredible and Sad Story of the Innocent Erendira and her Heartless Grandmother, including "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," detailing the opening of each story with the arrival of an invading presence which causes widespread change in the life patterns of the characters, and the conclusion with a departure which completes the natural cycle. Millington also focuses on the narrative structure of the stories, which incorporates cultural knowledge frames and partial narrator authority to emphasize the relation between the narrative world and the actual world.

I am going to begin with beginnings. Each story in [The Incredible and Sad Story of the Innocent Evendira and her Heartless Grandmother (ISS)